Spanish bishops reject proposed law that would open door to “therapeutic cloning”

Cordoba, Spain, Oct 19, 2006 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The bishops of the dioceses in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia have expressed rejection of a proposed law that would regulate “research into cellular reprogramming for exclusively therapeutic ends,” which was approved by the Andalusia provincial government on September 12 and would open the door to the creation of embryos for “therapeutic purposes.”

In a statement, this week, the prelates warned that “cellular re-programming through nuclear transfer” is a broad term that, in the way in which it is presented, opens the door to therapeutic cloning. Such broad term, the bishops said, leads to the creation of cloned humans to be used “as material for scientific tests” in order to seek out “possible and improbable future therapies.”

“Therapeutic cloning is an attack on human dignity, as it subordinates the cloned human being to the sick one. It feeds the idea that it is licit for some men to have total control over others, to the point of determining their biological identity,” the bishops maintained.

Another “grave problem” mentioned by the bishops is the use of human eggs for research, “as obtaining them implies a serious risk to the donor, who goes through hormonal treatment with possible consequences for her health and minimal intervention to extract them.” They warned that “the dignity of women is threatened when they are subjugated and subjected to an empire of technology with its own goals.”

Therefore because of the ethical problems posed by this law, the bishops expressed their “concern and rejection” of it, emphasizing that it is “necessary to regulate science in the service of human beings.”

While they said research with adult stem cells and “the use of public funds for projects that pose no ethical concerns” were licit, they pointed to the need for legislation that “prevents giving science the power to use human beings.”